The other life of the Necromancer.

Using a Necromancer/Ranger can put you into pretty bad experiences in Guild Wars. I’m a battery type using a bow in conjunction with Kindle Arrows.

A few days ago I got bored so I decided to go do Thunderhead Keep to conquer it. I did my usual routine of yelling "battery necro looking for group" and to my surprise I got a group in less than thirty seconds for once. I acknowledged the pick up group with a simple hello and the leader asks me this question:

Leader: "You're a battery necro right?"
Me: "Yes, why did you add me if I wasn't?"
-then-
Leader: "Can you bring Well of Power and Blood Ritual?"
Me: "I prefer Blood is Power"
Leader: "No, bring Well of Power and Blood Ritual"

First off I had no idea what this guy was getting to. I have always used Blood is Power in Thunderhead Keep and not a soul has demanded anything else until that moment. So let us think about it, Well of Power needs a corpse. Ok. But what if the healer/protector runs out of energy? Do they run into my well that's right smack in the fray with Summit Beastmasters and Axe wielders?

Anyway, I met their demands and we headed out. We did fine after getting past the wall. There, is when sh*t started hitting the fan(by the way we camped with King Ironhammer). When the battle got hectic the wells were either ignored or right in the middle of the fray. Sometimes there were corpses near me and the monks if we got lucky. The Wells of Power were getting the monks killed. The Blood Ritual wasn't holding up, since I was literally playing follow the monk when they were under attack, and it was not replenishing the monks energy fast enough in return. Hence reading the constant cries of “ My energy is XX of XX.” I WOULD have brought BR and BiP but that means a dead Shelby -_-

So yeah we got creamed. When we got back I suggested that I bring Blood is Power and Well of Blood instead then went at it again. Thunderhead Keep ftw.

Questions? Comments? Concerns Complaints?

Well, first off, as someone who played both a Monk and a Necro completely through the game, Battery necros simply can not compensate for bad Monks nor does a good Monk really need one. (Though their performance is greatly enchanted by them)

I'm not saying you wouldn't have done better with a build that you were more comfortable with, but I seriously doubt the difference between Well of Power/Blood Ritual or Blood is Power has much to do with your team wiping that first run.

But yeah, I freaking hate teams that specifically ask for Wells and then never take advantage of them.

Anyone who asks for a "battery necro" and then insists on Well of Power over BiP is a noob and a moron. The Well does very little to improve overall energy, and (as you mentioned) had downsides in the corpse requirement and in placement.

And I agree with Sanji. No amount of BiP or Wells or Rituals can overcome a BAD monk. They can make decent monks good, and good monks great. But they won't save you from an idiot.

I wont join a team that has a monk INSISTING that they NEED a battery necro to manage their energy. A protection monk I can kinda understand, but there's no real excuse for a healing monk at that stage in the game. IMO, a team that 'requires' a battery isn't one that'll work too well.

Well, the emphasis of my usual build is it have myself and others as far away from combat as possible while tanks are at the front line. Although I have never really played a monk, my old guild literally gave me lectures on all types of monks so I have a basic understanding of the class. Blood spells gives monks a boost and they "worry less" of their energy use. But the monks put themselves at risk when they ran into the well, of course, when there were enemies around.

Exactly. It was that the group didn't seem to understand the circumstances of the skill(s). Our second attempt went a lot better, the warriors were usually in Wells of Blood I created. If the case that an enemy ignored the warriors and went for the monks, they could run off without having to worry TOO much about everyone else. Unfortunately, my Well of Blood isn't enough at all to support/heal a party (4 or 5 arrows I believe, a level 5-7 monk with healing breeze puts me to shame)

I have found sometimes that group leaders unfamilar with Necro spell names will ask for Blood Renewal or Blood Ritual when they actually want BiP. It's simply a matter of ignorance, not necessarily stupidity.

Yeah, I agree with you in that Well of Power and Blood Ritual feels like an inferior choice to Blood is Power and Well of Blood.

I don't like Blood Ritual because it's a touch skill while I can fire off Blood is Power quickly and wherever I want. I don't like Well of Power because Monks shouldn't be standing by monster corpses, while Well of Blood is good enough for backing up the people who should out in front.

I leave groups that tell me what skills to use. I know what works best in any given situation and i have a mental template for each and every mission/zone.

Trust your own instincts and experience.

Eh... I'm too nice to leave groups since I think it is rude afterall. Unless they're mean or being very sarcastic. Only I can be sarcastic and no one does it any better.

But I agree with the above

when i ask for a battery necro i usually ask for well of blood for the tanking warrior and BiP for the spellcasters/monk. Of course i never force a player, rather make suggestions (unless he/she is really new at their job). >.>

Agreed. BiP is a much better tool to recharge than WoP b/c of the corpse issue. This is especially true in FoW and SF, where you wouldn't be able to use corpses (b/c other necros will use them first). Only a noob would insist otherwise.

Not to say that you dont actually know what works best for each situation, I'm sure you do, yet, there are alot of players out there who THINK they know whats best in every situation. More likely they are using what they are comfortable with. I personally won't ever TELL anyone what to bring, but I like to discuss what folks are bringing if for no better reason than to find out what needs wont be filled that I may be able to adress. Like, hex removal in FOW for that blasted spite spell. I myself cannot stand players who get offended when I ask what they are bringing and get all high and mighty about how much they know and blah blah blah.

Just my 2/3rd of a cent.

Seraphite, I experience similar things with my Me/N that offers BiP and Well of Blood for support purposes but I bet you I have a harder time finding groups for missions.

Agreed.

Blood Ritual, the touch, 2 second cast time, and +3 pips only. Longer duration, but often the one in need of a boost will never ping their energy unless they can't cast anything on their bar. In those situations, it means the monk(s) have been going all out with spells and during that time you're going to lose a party member or two when you apply Blood Ritual.

I used to run BiP/WoB on my warrior in FoW, and everyone loved it. Battery tanks get a lot of love.

You're damn right I do.

I really liked Me/N as a combination because I think Fast Casting benefits a necro more than any other casting class. Getting the upper hand on corpse exploitation spells like Putrid and Wells is very valuable. Unfortunately... small minded PUG's will completely ignore you as mesmers are "completely useless" in PvE. :P

It's been my experience that if players specifically ask for a energy boosting skill, they tend to become lazy players, and don't mind their energy management as much. The extra energy becomes a crutch to prop up their lack of healing skills. While I never turn down a free enrgy boost from a necro, I never really need it.

I was playing in Hells with a PUG - we had two nukers (myself and another). After every battle (or even before the end) the other nuker was spamming "My energy is 2 of 79" or whatever. At the end of every battle I normally had at least 50-60 energy yet was doing more killing. Why? Because I paid attention to my energy management skills like fire and elemental attunement, and made sure those skills were constantly up. And this was even with arcane echo'ing metoer shower.

Some (most?) players just mash their mouse buttons without paying attention. Shrug.

And the battery necro seems to be the new fotw for esssential party members. It's cute how labels get stuck on a specific class and suddenly everyone wants one.

amen brother.

its all the runners faults.
j/k

Even when it comes to Necromancer, one of the most subbable Professions, I don't really like the idea of subbing it to Mesmer just for fast casting. That is, Necromancer has a lot to offer as a primary.

A lot of people rip on it, but I have come to love Soul Reaping. Sure, Necromancer spells take a long time to cast, but they also are expensive. I simply would not switch Soul Reaping for Fast Casting, especially since Headgear/Runes also play an important role as a Necromancer.

I tend to do well enough with Minions, even commonly playing an area where I have enemy necromancers to compete with. I wouldn't want to imagine not being able to have 16 Death Magic, Blood Magic (Awaken the Blood for the win) or having to put points into Inspiration for active energy management as opposed to passive energy management that works just fine for even 25 Energy Bone Fiends.

I prefer taking BR/WoP over BiP/WoB. The reason?

I can keep more casters going with BR than with BiP. Sure it doesn't give as much regen, but I'm able to constantly apply it on targets. With BiP I can use it twice, but if a stray attack comes my way I'm in trouble. Maybe it's just the groups I've been with when using BiP, where the monks weren't too generous with healing the guy slitting his wrists to give them their precious energy, but I found myself too low on health too often, and thus wasn't even able to use BiP when it was needed for fear of sacrificing myself to death.

The only reason I usually take WoP over WoB is for lack of a different elite to use in my build. I don't like BiP for the reasons mentioned above, and I figure WoP is helping the team more than OOB would.

WoP is also a nice group regen between fights too - everyone crowds around to get the +life & energy regen, and with the life regen it's easy to also top up anyone with blood rituals.